Nigeria: NAPS warns oil, gas operators over fuel pricing

National Association of Polytechnic Students (NAPS) has placed operators across Nigeria’s oil and gas value chain on notice over fuel pricing practices, warning that any attempt to undermine recent price relief measures will attract coordinated and peaceful student actions nationwide.

In a press release issued on Monday and signed by its President, Comrade Eshiofune Paul Oghayan, the association, said recent reductions in the ex-depot price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) by the Dangote Petroleum Refinery showed that lower fuel prices are achievable when inefficiencies and speculative practices are eliminated.

NAPS referenced reports that the ex-depot price of PMS had dropped to as low as ₦699 per litre, a development it said “should reasonably translate to pump prices of between ₦730 and ₦740 per litre after logistics and operational costs are factored in, depending on location”.

According to NAPS, “the development proves that price moderation is possible if artificial bottlenecks, hoarding and profiteering are not allowed to distort market realities”.

The students’ body commended the President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, and his management team for what it described as “a responsible intervention that has helped to ease economic pressure on Nigerians, particularly students and low-income households”.

It also acknowledged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu “for supporting policies and initiatives aimed at strengthening local refining capacity and improving efficiency within the downstream petroleum sector”.

NAPS, however, warned that “any stakeholder deliberately frustrating pricing structures or policies designed to reduce the cost burden on citizens would be regarded as engaging in economic sabotage”.

The association also said it would not tolerate what it described as “profiteering” disguised as market forces, artificial scarcity, arbitrary price hikes, hoarding, or regulatory complicity that undermines economic stability.

It further announced that petroleum retail outlets selling PMS at unjustifiable prices, entities manipulating distribution to create scarcity, or regulators and corporate bodies enabling exploitative practices “would be subjected to public scrutiny and peaceful student actions, including visits to affected outlets across the country”.

The association: concluded by saying “it would continue to support and defend responsible actions taken in the national interest by both public and private sector actors”, while calling out “conduct that harms students and the wider population”.